MARK LANDSBAUM: So many believe so much that is so wrong

You may have noticed that America is experiencing a crisis of confidence. Even what we believe, we don’t seem to believe all that much, anymore. There’s more at stake than being disappointed. More about that later.

The bottom line is a lack of trust, and trust is what civilization is built upon. We trust motorists to stop at red lights when we proceed on the green. We trust doctors to tell the truth when giving us a clean bill of health. We trust politicians when they say we have God-given rights that men can’t infringe upon. Oh, OK. Not so much that last one.

Doesn’t it seem that things are accelerating out of control? It’s probably a fiction that we once were firmly set in our ways and unshakable in our beliefs. Memories deceive. Anyone who has tried knows that you can’t go home again. It almost always turns out less idyllic than embellished recollections.

Still, there’s no denying that things have deteriorated. Yours truly suggests this is the consequence of burst bubbles of belief being punctured by stark reality. Collectively, we naively bought packs of lies only to see them disproven. We fell victim to the triumph of propaganda over truth.

“It isn’t so much that liberals are ignorant,” Ronald Reagan observed. “It’s just that they know so many things that aren’t so.”

The prevalence of liberal (more accurately “progressive”) beliefs built a house of cards. We were told we could borrow ourselves into prosperity, but someone’s kids are going to have to pay that $17 trillion debt. We were told we would help the poor by making them dependent on government for every want and need, refusing to see that wants always outstrip needs. We were told marriages were so disposable that people could walk away consequence-free. Now children are nearly as likely to be raised without a father in the home as with one. We were told life in the womb isn’t necessarily life and that black lives matter, except for the horrific fact more black babies are now aborted in New York than are born.

If you believe things that aren’t so, sooner or later you must face reality. It wouldn’t take as long to face facts if motorists began running red lights routinely, or if people started dropping dead after their doctors assured them all was well. But for some reason, when politicians lie to us, it takes generations to understand we’ve been conned.

It’s not new. But that’s the point. The cumulative effect is doing us in. It’s age-old political rhetoric.

“Of the people, by the people, for the people.” Anyone still buying that line? The U.S. income tax was promised to temporarily pay for the Civil War, but later instituted permanently with assurance all that was needed was a paltry 1 percent for most folks. Remember “Read my lips, no new taxes”? Or, “I did not have sexual relations with that woman”?

It’s debatable whether one of the Clintons should be crowned America’s Chief Prevaricator, but there is little doubt that, in tandem, they are among the most duplicitous husband-wife team in political memory. Even Democrats doubt Hillary’s explanations about her private emails, say the polls.

Lest we assume this is exclusive to Democrats, understand that the Tea Party was born out of dissatisfaction with Republican leadership duplicity. Look no further than John Boehner if you think things have improved. A Fox News poll shows 62 percent of Republicans feel betrayed by their own party.

It may be true that Americans have never been dumber, as college entrance exams indicate, falling to a 40-year low. As we’ve said before, the scariest words in the English language are “large voter turnout.” But given enough time, even the dimmest bulbs see the absurdity of believing lies.

The learn-the-hard-way explanation may have been summed up by FDR’s 1932 campaign slogan against an untrustworthy predecessor: “Hoover we trusted, now we’re busted.” That may have been true, but the irony of it coming from FDR underscores the point. In his campaign, Roosevelt promised to balance the budget, reduce government spending and downsize government. How did that work out?

How do so many come to believe so much that is so wrong? Maybe it has something to do with dogma trumping truth. American voters put in office candidates who never met a lie they couldn’t tell to advance an agenda. And our itching ears yearn to hear more, despite what our lying eyes tell us actually is happening.

Here’s what’s at stake. When government and politicians tell us that this time they are telling the truth, we no longer trust them. One hundred thousand Middle East migrants coming to America? Does anyone believe this administration will vet them to screen out the dangerous? A horde of GOP candidates each promising to reverse government’s disastrous course? Really? Are you serious?

When are habitual, proven liars truthful? When they say they are?

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